Picking out your shoes is a crucial part of your prom outfit. The shoes you pick out should complement your dress and match your color scheme. So, essentially, your shoes do make the outfit.
Complement, don’t match
You might be asking yourself, well, how do I even do that in the first place? To complement your shoes with your dress, opt for a neutral or complementary color, match textures or even draw attention to your simple dress with a bold statement shoe.
Color harmony
If you are looking for heels to match with multiple different colors for a wide range of dresses, seek a neutral shoe. Heel colors like white, black, beige or cream can complement various outfits or dresses. You can also choose a shoe in a color that harmonizes with your outfit. For example, let’s say your dress is a bold red. Pair it with a metallic or neutral shoe to balance out the boldness of your dress. Accent colors: If your outfit has vibrant or contrasting colors, consider shoes in the same color to create a cohesive look. While matching can work, aim for complementary shades rather than exact matches to avoid looking too matchy-matchy.
If your outfit is made of a smooth material, try a shoe with texture or vice versa to add visual interest to the outfit. You could also try a statement shoe. If you have a pair of shoes with a unique pattern, print or embellishments, make them the main focus and match your outfit to the shoe, pulling colors or textures from the shoe into your outfit.
Simple vs. Bold
For a simple outfit or dress, your shoes can be a great way to add personality. Maybe a shoe with a fun pop of color, a charm or embellishment, a chunky heel or even a platform. For a bold outfit or dress, aim for a laid-back or simple shoe, maybe a simple sparkly gold or neutral shoe. You don’t want your shoes to compete with the outfit in the case of a bold dress. The key is a simple dress, with bold shoes, and a bold dress, with simple shoes.
Comfort is key
Although prom is the night to go big or go home, you might want to factor in the comfort of your shoes. Do you really want to be dancing the night away in pain? The Naturalizer Joy Sandal is all around the perfect heel for your big night. They are $120 and they come in all different neutral options such as black leather, white leather, light bronze leather, white leather, pearl white leather, gingersnap suede, and nude leather. These heels scored an 8 on the Forbes website and are available in sizes 4 to 12; 6W to 12W. When shopping for a comfortable heel, there are many factors to consider. You want to consider material, height and overall comfort.
CHS student opinions
Sophomore Isabella Rocha will be attending cotillion this May. Isabella’s dress color is coral, but not just a simple coral, a shiny coral. Isabella stated, “If your dress has a slit and you can see the shoes they definitely make the dress. But, if you don’t have a slit in your dress that don’t really add anything and you can aim for a more simple pair.” Isabellas dress does not have a slit, so you will be unable to see her shoes. ¨Since you won´t be able to see my shoes, I am definitely going to aim for a comfortable heel and maybe a nude color.¨
Emily Cholewa, a Junior at Colonia High School, believes that the shoes definitely do not make the dress or the outfit. She even said, ¨I haven’t even thought about what shoes I will be wearing and will most likely order them off of Amazon a week before Cotillion.”
Jenna Sorce told the Declaration that her dress for cotillion is lilac colored, and is more bold than simple. For her shoes, she is thinking gold or silver sparkles. She believes that her heels are going to come off within seconds of dancing. Source also added, ¨That often people just take them off at formal events, so what’s the point of spending a lot of money on a shoe? Especially when you can just purchase a simple, comfortable shoe that still complements your dress because they’re just for pictures, and I personally would much rather be comfortable. I still do believe that your shoes do make the dress/outfit overall.¨
CHS faculty Opinions
Jennifer Blash, teacher at Colonia High School and coordinator of prom at CHS, stated ¨Most of the time at prom, shoes are on for the first few minutes of prom. But by the time they get to dancing, the shoes come off. Oftentimes, girls just wear them for pictures.¨ She even said that in the past 5 years she has helped plan and chaperone prom, most girls don’t even bring flip flops or sandals to change into, but rather just go barefoot. Most of the venues where CHS Prom has been hosted the venue has allowed girls to take off their shoes and go barefoot rather than making them wear flip flops, socks or even slippers.
